Thinning 303 type hydraulic oil

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Bret4207

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

What would be a safe product to thin 303 type hydraulic oil with for very cold temp use? I was thinking ATF, but maybe simple diesel would work? At -20 or below it just get too thick. This is on old tractors like a MF65 and JD 420C.

 

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caterpillar guy

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

Just use a heater to blow on them. We have temps down that cold and we just let them warm up a bit at first. That is with the Hytran oil. All IH tractors with one Deere in there. Don't seem to have much trouble with the oil.

 

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Traditional Farmer

Well-known Member

Location

Virginia

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

Buy a decent quality oil to start with.

 

Tx Jim

Well-known Member

Location

Coyote Flats, Texas

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

low viscosity Hy-gard

 

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JDEM

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

My 1960 John Deere manual says to add kerosene to 303 if used in extreme cold. Or - use Type A automatic transmission fluid.
Manual is for 1960. Now, lots of companies sell special low-viscosity transmission oils. Standard 303 it eqivalent to
viscosity of 20 weight motor oil. Winter-grade modern trans oil is 10 weight.

 

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2underage

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

Bret there is not much that you can safely use to thin that hydraulic oil. You could use some diesel fuel and that would work for a while but even in cold weather the oil will warm up and it then will be too thin to lubricate the pump and the valves in the controls. If the tractor starts in this minus 20 weather it is best to let run for a while before using the hydraulics. With my 8 year old Kubota tractor, that I keep in a shed, I let it run for 20 minutes or longer when the temp is below 10 degrees and so far no problems.

If you do use something to dilute the hydraulic oil remember to drain it when warmer weather comes. Repairs or replacement of a hydraulic pump can take a big bite out of that state pension! Happy cold weather farming and happy new year.

 

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dhermesc

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

Agreed. Anything you do to the 303 oil will make it too thin to use this summer. It would be cheaper to start out fresh with Hy Guard or Hy Guard equivalent and not worry about it.

 

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Mike M

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

The Crawler is best left to sit when the ground is frozen ! They can take off like on ice skates and get you into serious troubles. BTDT.

 

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marloweg

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

first off 303 is the wrong oil for the 65

 

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Ragnarok

Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

Yeh...The John Deere low viscosity is probably your best and safest bet for cold temp hyd. oil.

I've noticed that some aftermarket '303' fluids are noticeably thicker than even standard JD Hy-Gard.

Low-vis Hy-Gard will mix with normal viscosity Hy-Gard no problem. I imagine it would be ok for the old spec aftermarket 303 fluids too

 

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2002sliverado

Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

I have to agree with Tx Jim, in going with Low-viscosity Hy-Guard, rather than thinning it out. I have mostly JD equipment, but I do have a few Farmall/IH tractors. The one I do use in the winter time is an 86 Hydro. It does have a heating element in the bottom of the transmission. Whenever I have to use it for moving snow, I do plug it in the night before and it makes a world of difference! I use the Case-IH Hy-Tran in that tractor specifically as required/recommended. I don't like the price of it, but I guess I have a bit more peace of mind in using that product versus another brand.

 

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WayneLee

Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

We used to thin out loader oil with 2 qts of gas. It evaporated when the temps warmed in the spring

 

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SVcummins

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

A premium hydraulic oil is not that much more
money than the cheap 303 oil

 

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rlp in Co.

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

With my backhoe I just let it idle for 20 minutes before I use it, however I have never used it in the REALLY cold weather that some of you guys have. I wish it had a heater for the transmission and the hydraulic tank.
When I started my pickup the other day when it was 0, the power steering pump complained for about 10 minutes. I'm thinking next time I might take a little propane torch and heat the oil a little before I start it.

 

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jtwat

Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

You could set a halogen flood light under it shining on the belly. That will warm it up or keep it warm over night.

 

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hd6gtom

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

Bret the 303 oil I sold was equivalent to a sae15 oil. Maybe something more modern is less weight, are you
sure you don't have a filter partially plugged or perhaps a filter with a very fine micron element?? I was
given 5 micron filters for my skid loader instead of the 10 micron units called for. Things were very very
slow till it warmed up. Good luck.

 

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504

Well-known Member

• Jan 3, 2018

• #1

I drive a delivery truck with a hyd lift gate, from the dealer it had ATF in it and it would not go down in 30deg weather.(gravity down) The cure is Airplane hyd fluid,the viscosity never changes with the temperature. We buy it from a local oil company.

 

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Bret4207

Well-known Member

• Jan 4, 2018

• #1

(quoted from post at 11:29:10 01/03/18) The Crawler is best left to sit when the ground is frozen ! They can take off like on ice skates and get you into serious troubles. BTDT.

Click to expand...

Uh, then how do you get your wood out in the winter? :lol:

 

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Bret4207

Well-known Member

• Jan 4, 2018

• #1

Thanks for the thoughts guys. The crawler sits well away from any power sources, so I guess I'll keep warming the oil with a torch until I can replace it with something better.